


Birthday Redo

by plikki



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Birthday Presents, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, They both need a Hug, What is this blue scarf doing in my fic?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22734586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki
Summary: What starts as the worst birthday for Adrien turns into the best one
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 13
Kudos: 278





	Birthday Redo

**Author's Note:**

> No, you didn't ask for another reveal. And still, here you are! I can't help myself, obviously.

Marinette woke up with the usual enthusiasm or rather lack of. She wasn’t a morning person and usually there was only one thing that made getting up early for school bearable - the thought that she’d see Adrien. It was that thought again and one casual glance at the date on her phone that got her shooting out of bed at a speed that must have left Tikki dizzy.

“Marinette, is everything alright?” she asked while Marinette ran around the room, throwing clothes on and trying to give herself some semblance of normal look. Then she paused next to her treasure trunk. 

“It’s today, Tikki. Adrien’s birthday,” she said with a dreamy expression. 

“Oh, of course! What have you got for him?” replied her kwami, hovering near her.

Marinette opened the trunk and took the top present. The remaining 49 presents will have to wait until their time came. Then she paused., thoughtful.

“What is it?” Tikki prompted.

“Well, I’m still not sure if this is the right present to give to him. I hope it doesn’t ruin his day…” 

“Nonsense, Marinette. I’m sure that no matter what you give him, he’s going to love it!” Tikki said with her typical optimism. Marinette smiled gratefully. She needed exactly this kind of encouragement. 

“You’re right, let’s go!”

She arrived at school out of breath, not because she was late, as was usually the case, but because she couldn’t wait to see Adrien. She was determined that this year she wouldn’t chicken out and would manage to give him his present in person. But imagine her surprise when she got to their classroom and didn’t see him there. Especially since Nino was already at his place, talking with Alya in subdued voices. 

“Hey, guys,” she greeted them cautiously as she approached. They both turned around and instantly stopped talking as if it was her they’d been discussing. Judging from the way they looked at her, this was most probably true. 

“Marinette,” Alya said, with a voice more suited to talking to an animal you don’t want to scare away. 

“What’s up?” Marinette said cheerfully, trying to pretend that she hadn’t noticed the way they acted. But she had a bad feeling they were going to tell her something unpleasant anyway.   
“I’m sorry… Adrien won’t be coming to school today,” Alya continued, sympathy filling her voice. 

“Oh,” was all Marinette could say before she fell into her place, all the energy leaving her at once. She’d been so excited, so determined to do things right, it hadn’t even occurred to her that she may not have the chance to do what she wanted to do.

“Why?” she asked hesitantly, not missing the sympathetic look Nino was giving her too. She’d long ago made peace with the fact that he knew about her crush. She was sure Alya had told him. It was clear from the way he acted around her. 

“Well, you remember last year, right?” he said, looking uncomfortable They all did, it hadn’t been much fun. “He decided to avoid anything like that happening again, so he said he’d spend it at home. Also his dad wants this too, as you can guess,” he finished. 

Adrien, home, all alone on his birthday? And she thought she’d felt sad before. Imagining him like that hurt her in a way she hadn’t imagined possible.

“Can’t we do anything for him? A surprise or something?” she said, but the sad look Nino gave her told her enough.

“He warned against such plans. He doesn’t want to risk his father getting mad again and causing someone else to get akumatised. So I guess this is it, no celebrations today,” he said, shrugging. He tried to look nonchalant, but it was clear he didn’t like this too, leaving his best friend alone on a day like this. But they didn’t really have a choice, this was true.

The day dragged on impossibly long after that. Marinette had been so happy about it only to fall down to Earth with a bang. The gift in her bag seemed to be mocking her whenever she took out her books. She wanted it to be over, so that things could get back to normal the next day, with Adrien there with them. Then she remembered she had patrol with Chat that evening and groaned. How was she supposed to put on a front for him?

***

Adrien couldn’t remember another day that had felt less festive than this one. It was bad enough that he had the memories of past birthdays, with his mum there and happy to do something special for him on that day. Or the memory of last year, which had been a disaster. But also he had to be all alone with more than enough time to think about it all. His father had tried, arranging for a small cake to be served for him at lunch. Coming from him, this was huge and probably his attempt to make up for the last time. But he was still alone when he blew the lonesome candle and the only wish he could think of was for his lady not to bail on him that evening. 

Plagg had tried to distract him. And it having him there was better than being all alone, even if he had to accept yet another present in the form of Camembert from him. And he was happy that the day had been uneventful. No akuma battles, no hurt friends, no ill-fated parties. All in all, better than the previous one. 

And then evening came and he perked up instantly. He felt happy as he waited for Ladybug to come. So happy in fact that it wasn’t until she was standing there in front of him that it hit him that he couldn’t exactly tell her why he was so happy to see her. It would be a huge giveaway, right? Or not. He wasn’t sure. But by then, it was too late. She’d seen the huge grin with which he’d greeted her and then the way it had dissolved in an instant, with no obvious cause for it. 

“Chat? Is everything alright?” she asked. He cursed himself internally. What had he been thinking?

“Um, just a long day. I’m happy to see you,” he said, smiling and trying to sound casual. But this wasn’t fooling her. She knew him too well by now.

“Could have fooled me, but I saw that look. It wasn’t a happy look,” she said.

“Well. It’s not like I can tell you. I just realised it would give too much away about my identity. Possibly,” he said, not trying to hide his sadness anymore. What a day. He couldn’t share it even with the girl he loved without ruining it. If only he’d prepared in advance for the fact that he’d have to pretend it was an ordinary day. But no.

“Oh. Are you sure there is nothing I can do?” Ladybug sighed, a soft look in her eyes. 

“Just you being here is enough,” he said, because yes, this was true. He should focus on that and forget all else. Her answering smile was the best gift he could hope for. 

“Well, I had a bad day too. So we could try to forget about it together, deal?” she said as they sat down.

“A great idea. Can you tell me why your day was bad though? It may help.” He saw her hesitate but then she seemed to come to the conclusion that it was ok.

“Well, I friend of mine has … their birthday today,” she said, pausing for a second. Trying not to give too much away. “But they couldn’t celebrate it, so we were all a bit sad.”

He felt for her. He could imagine his friends had felt bad about not being able to share his day too. What a coincidence that it had happened to her too. 

“That’s bad. But I’m sure the birthday boy or girl must know you’re thinking about them. So it must be a consolation.” That’s what he’d been telling himself all day too. 

“You’re right. And well, there is always next year. Let’s hope by then we’ll have caught Hawk Moth and everyone will be free to celebrate their birthday,” she said with a rueful smile. Yet another reason to want the bad guy out of the way.

“Absolutely. I really hope I won’t have to spend my sweet sixteen on my own at home like today,” he said without thinking. Then he realised what he’d said and his eyes shot up to meet his lady’s. He saw her gasp and a painful realisation cross her face. He’d said too much, right.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. I’m pretty sure a lot of people have their birthdays today, right. Just think about it. You also have a friend who was born today so.. This isn’t such a giveaway, right?” he said, not ready to give up hope yet.

He saw that she was wanted to agree. 

“Happy birthday, Chat,” she said softly, taking his hand in hers. 

“Thank you,” he said, a genuine smile on his face this time.

“So… why didn’t you celebrate today?” she asked, although it was clear she didn’t think he’d answer.

“Yeah, try again. I tell you this, it’s certain you’ll figure it out,” he teased her. “But it wasn’t so bad, now that I think about it. I had a cake, although I had to eat it on my own. And my dad gave me his usual present, but then again, it was too much to expect another awesome scarf like last year. It was better than him forgetting I had a birthday at all. This has happened before,” he said, trying to laugh it off. He didn’t expect the stony silence he got from Ladybug. 

“M’lady?” he said hesitantly. He didn’t know what he’d done wrong this time. He was pretty certain nothing of what he’d said was giving away too much. 

“You…” she said, her eyes frantically scanning his face. “God,” she whispered and shook her head.    
“What? What is it?” Now he was worried. 

He looked taken aback as she shot up to her feet and motioned for him to follow her. 

“Come with me,” she said quietly. He knew better than to ask more questions. He just got up and followed her. He was so busy trying to think of the terrible consequences he may have to face for his little mishap, that he didn’t notice where they were heading until they reached their destination.

“What are we doing here?” he asked confused as he looked around Marinette’s balcony. She was nowhere to be seen, but he still worried she might find them there.

“Shh,” was all Ladybug said as she opened the skylight and dropped down on Marinette’s bed.    
“What are you doing?” he hissed, heart beating frantically. Why were they breaking into Marinette’s room? It was dark and she wasn’t there but she could get back at any moment.

She motioned for him to follow her down as she headed towards Marinette’s desk, looking strangely familiar with the place. He saw her pick something up and turn to him. She took a deep breath, as if to give herself courage and then she held it out to him.

He looked confused at the brightly coloured paper and the pretty bow that kept it together. Then his eyes returned to hers, still confused.

“Happy birthday, Adrien,” she whispered and his heart stopped. This was it, she knew. But why wasn’t she mad at him for giving himself away and why was she giving him a present?

‘What is this?” he asked.

“You were wrong. There may be many people born today, but for two people I know to share the same birthday, to spend it alone at home and to have received the same present last year? I don’t think coincidences like that happen in real life. Also, well, I was blind, but you’re like twins. So it was not that hard to figure out,” she rattled off and then clamped her mouth shut, ashamed because of her outburst. 

He tried to make sense of what she’d told him. Was she saying he was the friend she was talking about earlier? And she’d had a present ready for him, at Marinette’s? And… well, it all made sense now. Being in Marinette’s room no longer seemed so strange. 

“Marinette?” he said in awe and saw her blush. 

“Take it, it’s for you,” she nodded at the gift still in her hands. He gingerly took the package, trying not to rip it with his claws. 

“Thank you,” he breathed. Wow. Marinette was Ladybug and had made a present for him. 

“That’s from Marinette for Adrien, since last year I couldn’t give my present to you personally and well… Anyway,” he had no idea what she was talking about but it was hard to think because she was suddenly right in front of him. “This is from me,” she whispered then and he could barely react before her lips pressed against his. He barely noticed the gift fall from his hand as his arms wrapped around her. This was happening. She was finally where he wanted her and she was kissing him and while he still needed some answers, he wasn’t letting her go easily. 

“Best birthday ever,“ he said when they came up for air. Marinette, his lady, giggled in the most adorable way. 

“Can I see my present now?” he asked, curious, looking at where it lay discarded on the floor. He saw uncertainty flicker in her eyes. 

“Um.. I hope you’re not mad when you see it,” she said awkwardly. Confused, he took it and opened it carefully. The sky blue colour caught his eye immediately. He knew it too well. He took the beautifully knitted hat in his hands and instantly knew why she’d been worried about his reaction. It was crystal clear that last year his father hadn’t gone out of his way to give him an amazing present. It had been Marinette’s. But he wasn’t mad. It was no surprise really, he should have known better.

“It’s wonderful, Marinette. I’ll have a matching set,” he said with a bright smile and saw her visibly relax.

“You’re not mad… or sad?” she asked. 

“No, I just wish I’d known earlier. Come here,” he said and opened his arms, sighing with satisfaction when she stepped into them without hesitation. That was all he needed. “You’re the best,” he whispered against her hair and felt her arms tighten around him. It was the best birthday he could ask for, for real. 


End file.
